Credit

Caption

This snowflake features dendritic branches and a colourful pattern in the center. The pattern is caused by bubbles that form in the crystal's prism facets, which in turn produces very thin layers of ice on either side. This thin ice introduces the phenomenon of thin film interference when reflected light is used. The thickness of the ice changes the resulting colour. Crystal measures 5.2mm across the longest branches, and when reproduced at a size of 10cm wide, this image would have a magnification factor of roughly 20x magnification. Snowflake is photographed on a black woollen background and this image is a composite of multiple frames in order to extend the depth of field across the entire crystal.